I was unsure whether to compile this post here or in Melbourne adventures. In the end I decided that it had a focus on the area close to 505, and I covered a few topics, so here is where it fits best.
The story begins with me being alert as we left beautiful downtown Traralgon on 3 August and passed the Hazelwood Open Cut, getting a couple of photos. The first shows some of the faces of the cut:
The second image a little further along the M1 shows the water in the bottom of the pit.
For a different perspective the next image is an April 2024 snip from Google Earth showing the mine and the M1, with my best guess at where the above snaps were taken.
We now move to Fawkner Park on the morning of 4 August. The first sighting was a fellow walker being bailed up by a family of Magpies. He was equipped with food for them (and a rug rat) so I suspect they recognised him as a regular.
Heading towards Toorak Rd the daffodil bed is beginning to get its act into gear.
The bed at the back gate to 505 is well endowed with succulents. But I can't remember nor find its name. I have since enabled Google Lens on my phone and find this to be
Aloe aborescens (
Candelabra Aloe)
A Rainbow Lorikeet (ssp crappypic) called in for a visit.
A little further along were some Bird of Paradise (
Strelizia sp.) flowers ....
...and the eucalypt flowers were photographable.
After some food and drink we walked over to the Prahran Square/Chapel St area to check a few interesting sites (and acquire some groceries). We checked out the Chapel on Malvern Rd, noting that quite a few of the mosaics had been vandalised. Not being a Catholic building - and apparently
no longer a chapel - it was locked up. We then went to look at the outside of the
Rechabite Hall. And a little of the inside (the building is now 'boutique' offices).
As usual in Melbourne these days there was a good array of street art (or an array of good street art) on most flat surfaces.
A part of our aim for the visit was to check out the Prahran Arcade, which can be visited as it is now a huge Dan Murphy's. This was the site of his first store, which at the age of 34
he set up in competition to his father in 1952.
It was not crowded at 11:40 on a Monday morning: staff far outnumbered customers! Apparently it was very busy at the re-opening on 1 August. This is the main arcade (about 70m long according to Google Earth). We acquired a couple of small bottles of Stout: I passed on the Shepheard Neame from Kent despite its memories of my time at Uni in that County, due to the sticker price of $18 for 500ml.
A highlight was the cellar which also runs under the building next door. Very atmospheric and would be a nice place for those with big pockets to host a function. This was the high quality wine area.
After a brief foray into Coles we checked out the
Iwagumi Air Scape that has been installed in the Square. These are inflatable rocks, which I think are lit from the inside after dark.
Frances found an art reference to an
installation of tyres but we had not found it until this day!
Here is a panorama of the Square from close to the tyres, at the high point of that structure.
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